The last Ancient Egyptian monarchy crumbles and is conquered by Assyrians from Mesopotamia.

525

Persian Conquest of Egypt.

332

Ushering in the Greco-Roman period, Alexander the Great conquers and names the city of Alexandria after himself. Ptolemaic rule begins.

300

The hieroglyphic writing system falls out of use. Greek script becomes the official script of government documents.

196

The carving of the Rosetta Stone.

31 A.D.

The Romans defeat the Macedonians and Egypt becomes part of the Roman Empire.

45-60

Saint Mark the Apostle brings Christianity to Egypt and establishes the unbroken Patriarchal Seat of Alexandria sometime in 61 A.D. Today, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III is the 117th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

100

Coptic script begins to develop.

251

Monasticism, "the gift of Egypt to Christianity," begins with St. Antony (ca. 251-356) in the eastern desert of Middle Egypt, then steadily spreads across Egypt to the Western Desert and up the Nile Valley, even into Nubia and eventually into Ethiopia.St. Anthony in the desert. Etching by Nicolas Guérard, fils. Detail from a map, L'Ancienne Thebaide…, by Nicolas de Fer, 1738.

284

The Coptic calendar, following an Ancient Egyptian solar calendar, is formally established in September of this year. Known as the year of the martyrs, the very first year commemorates one of the bloodiest eras in Coptic Christian history under the Roman Emperor Diocletian between 245 and 313 A.D. September 11 is yearly celebrated as the start of the new Coptic year.

285

The Theban Legion (a contingent of the Roman Empire's Army forcibly recruited in Egypt) takes Egyptian Christianity, with its music and prayers, across the Alps into France and Switzerland.

313-337

Emperor Constantine the Great moves the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople. Henceforth Egypt comes under the hegemony of Christian Byzantium, which will grow ever more oppressive.

451

After the schism of the Council of Chalcedon, the See of Alexandria is split into two lines of patriarchal succession: the Melkite (Greek royalist) line and the native orthodox (Coptic) line. For centuries, the Copts struggle to keep their indigenous liturgies intact, with surest success being in the isolated monasteries.

452

Under Roman rule, Demotic slowly gives way to a Greek-derived Coptic alphabet, borrowing seven extra letters from Demotic to represent Egyptian phonetics not found in Greek.

642

'Amr Ibn al-'As enters into present Egypt in 640 A.D. and, in two years’ time, completes the Arab conquest of the country.

685-705

The reign of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. This Caliph established Arabic as the official administrative language for the public and government in Egypt. All Copts who wanted a government post had to learn Arabic.

969-1171 979-1003

Meaning "The Triumphant," Al-Qahira, otherwise known as Cairo, is founded by the ruling Fatamid dynasty.

It was under the tenure of Pope Philotheus that Arabic Bibles and church books were introduced in the Arabic language. However, many clergy, including Pope Zacharias (1004-1032), still celebrated the liturgy entirely in the Coptic language.

1046-1077

During the reign of Patriarch Christodoulos, the patriarchal seat is moved from Alexandria to Cairo.

1171-1250

Great warrior, Saladin (Salah-al Din) begins the Ayyubid dynasty.

1250-1517

The last Ayyubid Sultan is murdered and Mamluke rule begins.

As Arabic-speaking Christian intellectuals emerge beginning in the middle of the eighth century, Ishāq al-Mu`taman Abū ibn al-`Assāl (fl.1230–1260) dedicates a chapter to Coptic Church music in his book, Kitāb Majmū Usūl al-Dīn, which translates as "The Foundations of Religion." [1] By the mid-thirteenth century, another author, Yuhānnā ibn Abī Zakāriyyā ibn Sība' describes Coptic liturgical music of his time in the work al-Jawarah al-Nafīsah, which translates as The Precious Essence… [2] One more source appears from the early fourteenth century: Misbāh al-Zumlah fī Idāh al-Khidmah, The Lamp of Darkness, written by Shams al-Ri'āsah Abū al-Barakāt ibn Kabar. In this book, he lists Coptic hymns and defines how they are used in the Church.[3]